Stocks in Canada’s largest market continued on their win streak Thursday, led by energy shares, as investor sentiment was boosted by signals that a "phase-one" U.S.-China trade deal was close to being finalized.
The TSX Composite Index increased 60.11 points to finish Thursday at 16,805.75
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.06 cents to 75.89 cents U.S.
Energy flexed its muscles, as Canadian Natural Resources scaled $2.82, or 8.3%, higher to $36.96, while Arc Resources bettered itself 36 cents, or 5.9%, to $6.48.
Among communications issues, TELUS popped $1.93, or 4.1%, to $49.20, while Quebecor sprinted 63 cents, or 2.1%, to $30.90.
In the consumer discretionary field, Linamar hiked $2.25, or 5.2%, to $45.83, while Canadian Tire gained $6.56, or 4.6%, to $150.72.
Gold had a rough day, though, with Eldorado Gold sinking $1.75, or 14.9%, to $10.01, while Kinross Gold gave up 79 cents, or 12.4%, to $5.56.
Among materials, First Majestic Silver lost 61 cents, or 4.6%, to $12.81, while SSR Mining dipped 80 cents, or 4.1%, to $18.97.
Health-care concerns also faded, as Cronos Group fell 59 cents, or 5.4%, to $10.42, while Aurora Cannabis slipped 20 cents, to 4.1%, to $4.72.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 4.83 points at 533.80
The 12 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided by Thursday’s close, with energy shooting 3.9% higher, communications beaming 1.3%, and consumer discretionary stocks better by 0.7%
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, duller by 3%, while materials slipped 1.4%, and health-care suffered 1.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose to record highs on Thursday after the world’s two largest economies reportedly agreed to remove existing trade tariffs, sparking a huge rotation into equities and out of bonds.
The Dow Jones Industrials galloped 182.24 points to close Thursday at 27,674.80, as trade bellwethers Caterpillar and Boeing were both up at least 1%.
The S&P 500 added 8.4 points to 3,085.18, as the financials sector gained 0.7%. Energy stocks also advanced 1.6%.
The NASDAQ tacked on 23.89 points, to 8,434.52
Bank of America shares rose 1.3%, fueled by the near 15-point surge in the 10-year U.S. rate. Citigroup added 1.9% and J.P. Morgan Chase climbed 0.5%.
In corporate news, Booking Holdings, Disney and Activision Holdings are the companies set to report their latest quarterly figures after market close.
Qualcomm shares jumped more than 6% after reporting Wednesday quarterly results that topped analyst expectations. The company’s results were driven by strength in Qualcomm’s licensing business.
On the data front, the latest weekly jobless claims numbers came in at 211,000, down slightly from 218,000 in the previous week.
Gao Feng, a ministry spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry, saidthat both sides had agreed to simultaneously cancel some existing tariffs on one another’s goods, according to the country’s state broadcaster. The ministry spokesperson said that both sides were closer to a so-called "phase-one" trade agreement following constructive negotiations over the past two weeks.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell sharply, raising yields to 1.92% from Wednesday’s 1.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 67 cents to $57.02 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell 24 dollars to $1,469.10 U.S. an ounce.
